A court has ordered Alternattiva Demokratika deputy leader Carmel Cacopardo to rectify a libellous blog post.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale heard Lawrence Zammit and Simon Vella say how they felt libelled by what Mr Cacopardo had alleged in a post on his blog entitled ‘Not only judges...” on January 3, 2013.

In the post, Mr Cacopardo made reference to allegations published in l-Orrizont that two companies associated with Mr Zammit, then chairman of Malta Enterprise, were being investigated by the Italian police for money laundering. The post also referred to Mr Vella, as the company’s shareholder, saying both were trusted by former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

The court said that Mr Cacopardo’s allegation did not amount to fair comment as it was not based on facts. It resulted the companies Notabile Fiduciaries Limtied and Notabile Consulting Group Limited were never actually investigated but were simply helping the police with their investigations involving Italian companies. This was also confirmed in court.

This established, Mr Zammit and Mr Vella told the court they were not after financial compensation but would be happy with a correction on the blog to rectify the damage to their reputation.

The court, therefore, ordered Mr Cacopardo to carry a correction on the blog post and make it clear that no such investigations ever took place.